DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1, 3, 4, 7-9, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 20 and 23-25 are pending.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 7-9, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 20 and 23-25 have been examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 7, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sin et al. (US 12,042,059) (“Sin”). Sin discloses a connection mechanism for a headrest (fig. 1: 102) and a soft pillow (fig. 1: 108), characterized in that the headrest comprises a headrest comfort layer (outer layer of headrest) and a rear cover (fig. 1A: 106 and/or rear portion of headrest including 106), the soft pillow comprises a soft pillow comfort layer (fig. 2A: 112), and the connection mechanism comprises: a magnet provided in the soft pillow (fig. 2A: 110a-d and/or 120a-d); and a magnetic metal piece disposed in the rear cover of the headrest (fig. 1A: 106 is a guide including magnets or a magnetic plate itself embedded behind the comfort layer; “the plate members 106 can be embedded into the fore surface 116 to provide a better experience so that users will not feel the existence of the plate members 106 in the headrest 102 when leaning against it in the absence of the cushion 108. The embedment depth of the plate members 106 can be controlled to provide sufficient magnetic force interaction with the magnets 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d. The plate members 106 can also be positioned in the headrest 102 such that they are not in direct contact with a user's head,” Col. 7, lines 13-22) wherein the connection mechanism is configured to removably connect the soft pillow to the headrest via a magnetic attraction between the magnet and the magnetic metal piece; and the connection mechanism further comprises a soft pillow tab (fig. 2A: 110a-d and/or 120a-d), wherein the soft pillow tab is connected to the soft pillow, and the magnet is disposed in the soft pillow tab.
As concerns claim 4, Sin discloses a free end of the soft pillow tab is provided with a pocket for accommodating the magnet, and the magnet is accommodated in the pocket (fig. 2A: 206a-c).
As concerns claim 7, Sin discloses the magnetic metal piece is fixed to an inner surface of the rear cover in a vertical direction (fig. 1A: 106 are vertical plates), so as to enable the magnet and the magnetic metal piece attract each other through the rear cover.
As concerns claim 19, Sin discloses the connection mechanism is configured such that a position of the soft pillow relative to the headrest is adjusted via movement of the magnet relative to the magnetic metal piece (118 is moved vertically along the plate members 1-6 to different positions).
As concerns claim 20, Sin discloses a headrest-soft pillow assembly, characterized in that the headrest-soft pillow assembly comprises a soft pillow, a headrest, and the connection mechanism (as discussed in claim 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 17 and 23-25 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art reference of Sin fails to teach:
wherein the soft pillow tab is made of a flexible material, and the soft pillow tab itself is also flexible;
wherein an outer surface of the rear cover is provided with a sliding groove extending in the vertical direction, with a position of the sliding groove corresponding to that of the magnetic metal piece, and the sliding groove is adapted to accommodate the magnet to facilitate magnetic connection between the magnet and the magnetic metal piece;
wherein the magnetic metal piece is fixed to an outer surface of the rear cover in a vertical direction, so that the magnet and the magnetic metal piece are directly attractable to each other;
wherein the magnetic metal piece is fixed to the rear cover by hot melting process; the rear cover is provided with one or more hot-melt columns, and the magnetic metal piece is provided with one or more securing holes for receiving the hot-melt columns;
wherein the magnetic metal piece is fixed to the rear cover by adhering; the rear cover is provided with an accommodating groove for accommodating and positioning the magnetic metal piece; or
wherein the headrest further comprises a front cover, the headrest comfort layer comprises headrest foam, and the headrest comfort layer is formed by wrapping the headrest foam over the front cover with a face cover.
Further, there is no teaching, suggestion or motivation to modify the prior art absent hindsight.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY J BRINDLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-7231. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm.
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/TIMOTHY J BRINDLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636